Too bad PC and JS didn't arrive 1 season earlier. They needed a LEO and Wake was a hot free agent after tearing up the CFL just a couple hours to the north in Vancouver, and we all know those guys search everywhere for players (heck, they gave Wake's replacement Ricky Foley a tryout just in case). Ruskell had no interest in CFLers, small school guys etc.

Seriously Ruskell, the kid was the hottest pass rusher to come along in awhile, played in Vancouver, and the Hawks showed no interest.

I thought the Hawks did show interest in Wake at the time, but were too late as Miami had him there and signed before the Hawks could get the tryout done. At least I remember that being the case. For all of Ruskell's faults (and there were many) he did have a good system in place of running guys through here regularly for tryouts, so that he had a list of players that could perform semi-ok at least on short notice if needed. It was almost like an additional group of practice squad members, and by running them through certain drills and such he could see if they were at least in NFL shape and were ready to step in as a special teamer if needed on a few days notice. This is how he was able to bring guys like Pete Hunter in at the last second and have them perform admirably considering the absolutely insane circumstances they were thrown into.

They did sign at least one CFL player under Ruskell I thought. Didn't he sign Jess Lumsden, or do I have my time periods wrong, or was Lumsden not in the CFL yet, but had just played collegiately up there?

I just found the whole thing to sound...Ruskellian. Bring in two players at totally different positions and make them compete for one spot. Jeff Ireland isn't just like Ruskell, but there are some similarities for sure. Like how much the fanbase hates him. Tech Worlds is right, though, most front offices are more concerned with how a guy fits their system than what his unique skills may do for the team.

At the time, BB would have been competing with Vontae Davis and Sean Smith for a spot at corner, and Ireland had handpicked them. Though in truth, Miami has needed a good safety for a while now, and BB is enough of thumper that he should have won a spot there with the Dolphins.

That is actually where I think BB's future in the NFL lies as he gets older. I would love to see him transition to a guy who can man cover tight ends from a safety spot as he gets older. He has a couple of years before that though. (I don't actually know if any of what I just said is true, but it sounds smart.)

I was sorry that Rick Foley didn't make it to the NFL, never was a harder working player. I think he was like Lofa tho not quite as talented and to small.

I agree that Pete and staff work very hard at putting players in a position to succeed as opposed to other coaches only interested in players that fit their definition of a position.

I do think the success of our outside backers will change the NFL idea of the ideal defenders. And it won't be long before the league will have to make some new rules to give more of an advantage to the receivers.

Cause the league likes games 45-37 way better than 7-2 a score I believe we had against a Florida team years ago. They don't want games that someone will ask "who pitched?"

And I believe GB once won a game against Chi-Town 5-2. Field goal and 2 safetys. My wouldn't that have been exciting?

The Radish wrote:I was sorry that Rick Foley didn't make it to the NFL, never was a harder working player. I think he was like Lofa tho not quite as talented and to small.

I agree that Pete and staff work very hard at putting players in a position to succeed as opposed to other coaches only interested in players that fit their definition of a position.

I do think the success of our outside backers will change the NFL idea of the ideal defenders. And it won't be long before the league will have to make some new rules to give more of an advantage to the receivers.

Cause the league likes games 45-37 way better than 7-2 a score I believe we had against a Florida team years ago. They don't want games that someone will ask "who pitched?"

And I believe GB once won a game against Chi-Town 5-2. Field goal and 2 safetys. My wouldn't that have been exciting?

Tech Worlds wrote:He probably would not have been successful there. It took Pete to know how to make his skillset work.

Totally agree. BB's performance in the Pro Bowl (pretty good near the LOS, but getting killed on most plays over 10 yards) is most likely what he would be if it were not for Pete and Gus knowing how to use him effectively.

The Radish wrote:I was sorry that Rick Foley didn't make it to the NFL, never was a harder working player. I think he was like Lofa tho not quite as talented and to small.

I agree that Pete and staff work very hard at putting players in a position to succeed as opposed to other coaches only interested in players that fit their definition of a position.

I do think the success of our outside backers will change the NFL idea of the ideal defenders. And it won't be long before the league will have to make some new rules to give more of an advantage to the receivers.

Cause the league likes games 45-37 way better than 7-2 a score I believe we had against a Florida team years ago. They don't want games that someone will ask "who pitched?"

And I believe GB once won a game against Chi-Town 5-2. Field goal and 2 safetys. My wouldn't that have been exciting?

Scottemojo wrote:(I don't actually know if any of what I just said is true, but it sounds smart.)

I see my style is starting to rub off.

Great point about Browner at safety. If we end up losing Chancellor in FA a few years down the road, I feel this could be a definite possibility. Browner will be 30 years old when he hits his first FA (the same year that Chancellor does). At that age in this league, he might have to take a job at safety to get paid.

Isn't that what Rod Woodson did? It was a pretty smart move and extended his career quite a bit. He was a great CB, but his speed sort of went away and then all of a sudden he was faced with being an average CB, or a GREAT safety (because of how well he read QB's and got position and was able to play the ball).

I find it really interesting that our fastest and smallest guy in the backfield is a safety (Earl Thomas), and Browner is a CB. It seems like you could almost interchange the guys right now for some different looks if needed. I think ET could be like Ronnie Lott was and play CB for a while and then move to safety or just jump back and forth. I don't know that there's a particular advantage, but maybe it gives teams another look and they get confused about whether the blitz was on. I'd love to see a switch up where Browner came blasting in on the QB like a safety blitz (up through the middle, rather than a corner blitz from the side) and Earl slid over and covered his man in man coverage. I think it would be a nifty look since Browner doesn't seem like the type that would shoot that middle gap and whiff on the QB or glance off of him. I think he'd put the hurt down. So it might be good to find some ways to get him to release on the QB like that. Maybe when WT3 is back full speed they can mess around more with the positioning of the corners (sort of how they did when they pretty much had Sherm lined up as essentially an extra defensive end last week that was disguised as a guy covering the slot or TE and he just went in with pure speed uncovered for the sack).